Growing Up Online

"Growing Up Online"

Click on the title of this post to view an extremely powerful and eye-opening website. This FRONTLINE video/article is called "Growing Up Online." You can watch the entire program from the website - I strongly suggest watching at least a few clips! The focus of this website is to clue in adults about the silent world that young adults and children are creating online and with other technology, such as text messaging. I was absolutely fascinated by the video clips and recommend watching them a few times to really let the message sink in about virtual societies.

According to the website, the film "takes viewers inside the private worlds that kids are creating online, raising important questions about how the Internet is transforming the experience of adolescence. At school, teachers are trying to figure out how to reach a generation that no longer reads books or newspapers. Fear of online predators has led teachers and parents to focus primarily on keeping kids safe online. But many young people think these fears are misplaced. Online media has also intensified the social dimensions of adolescence as teens create and play with identities on sites like MySpace and Facebook and encounter intense peer pressure in a variety of virtual worlds. Parents are confused about how to respond to the increasingly private worlds inhabited by their children, lacking an understanding of both the creative potential and the genuine risks of this new dimension of our cultural environment."

I believe as educators that it is our responsibility to be current with issues such as the untouched virtual world of students today. There is a very helpful section on the website for educators, which is complete with suggested lesson plans and more in depth analysis of internet use in different settings (i.e. home, school, etc.). Read this section and let me know if it helps you at all!

Here are some questions that I have and I would love to hear your thoughts/opinions:

-What are some ways to protect students while online?
-How can parents tap into this private tech savvy generation?
-Should parents and teachers collaborate to help control online environments?
-When is a parent or teacher overstepping their boundaries?
-What are some implications of being so dependent on technology?

I believe this is an overwhelming issue for teachers because our students will be greatly affected. For example, the website mentions cyber-bullying and how it is even more problematic than traditional in-school bullying. This website will help us start thinking proactively about issues and scenarios that we encounter in schools.